1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight assembly and a liquid crystal display apparatus having the backlight assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a liquid crystal display apparatus is a flat panel display device that uses liquid crystal in order to display an image. Such liquid crystal display apparatuses have various characteristics such as a thinness, light weight, low driving voltage, low power consumption, etc., and therefore have been widely used in various industries relating to display technology.
In the above liquid crystal display apparatus, the liquid crystal panel is not a self-emissive light element that generates light. Therefore, a backlight assembly is often used in order to supply light to the liquid crystal panel.
The backlight assembly includes a lamp for generating light. Often, the lamp employs a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) having a thin and elongated tubular shape. The backlight assembly is classified generally into an edge illumination type and a direct illumination type, depending on the lamp position. In the edge illumination type backlight assembly, one or two lamps are positioned adjacent to a lateral side of a transparent light guide plate, and the light from the lamp is multiple-reflected from the light guide plate and then applied to the liquid crystal display panel. In the direct illumination type backlight assembly, a plurality of lamps are disposed under the liquid crystal display panel, a diffusing plate is disposed between the lamps and the liquid crystal display panel, and a reflecting plate is disposed under the lamps. The light from the lamps is reflected from the reflecting plate and diffused by the diffusing plate, and the diffused light is applied to the liquid crystal display panel. Thus, the edge illumination type backlight assembly is applied generally to a small-scale liquid crystal display apparatus, and the direct illumination type backlight assembly is applied to a large-scale liquid crystal display apparatus requiring a high brightness.
However, in case of the direct illumination type backlight assembly, the peripheral region of the backlight assembly appears relatively dark compared to the central region of the backlight assembly. Uniformity of light from the backlight assembly is deteriorated, thereby degrading image display quality thereof.